Florence Welch says she grew up in awe of the ocean's vastness, fantasizing about what might dwell in its depths. The 26-year-old singer from the British indie-pop band Florence and the Machine says she's still enamored with the sea.

In Welch's booming contralto – which could blast Adele's belting off a cliff, but turn as quiet as Leslie Feist's croons – lines such as "And it's peaceful in the deep/cathedral where you cannot breathe/No need to pray, no need to speak/Now I am under" sound even more haunting when paired with the song's bell-like keyboards and ambient choral sounds.

The gothic theme runs through most of Welch's music. Her lyrics weave mentions of devils and ghouls into otherwise romantic tunes, but she doesn't see a disconnect between the emotional and the grotesque.

After reading Emma Forrest's review of "Lungs," the band's first album, Welch hired the British writer to pen an essay for the liner notes of "Ceremonials." Forrest quotes Welch as saying, "I'm attracted to the idea of drowning," which the singer describes in "What the Water Gave Me," off "Ceremonials."

The singer explains her wonder with the ocean as a comforting thought from her childhood.

"I was a slightly uncomfortable child," she says, "and to be underwater was to be graceful and to be submerged in something that was neither good nor bad. It just kind of takes you under, away from something."

On tour, Welch says, she doesn't get to see the water much, so she welcomes the time she'll spend in South Florida for her concert at the BB&T Center in Sunrise.

"I've missed it. I'm actually looking forward to getting into Miami to see the sea," she says.

Although she recently purchased records by Yeasayer and Patti Smith, Welch says her touring schedule doesn't allow her time to think about writing a new album. When she's home in London, her friends' welcomes keep her busy.

"I'm quite disciplined when I'm on tour. So when I come home, it's like, 'Get me to the pub!' as soon as I'm off the plane," she says. "But then, I have to recover from home. So it's like, 'Please get me back on tour. I need some structure in my life.' "

Florence and the Machine will perform 8 tonight at the BB&T Center, formerly BankAtlantic Center. Tickets cost $31.75-$45.75 at Ticketmaster.com.

Floridians weather the heat and humidity of our brutal summers by fleeing to the state’s wealth of cool, clear, refreshing springs, which spill thousands of gallons of water out of the ground every minute.